Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: kdlynn on 19/08/2007 03:08:47

Title: how do nicotine patches make you have crazy dreams?
Post by: kdlynn on 19/08/2007 03:08:47
last night was my first night on the patch. the booklet said that i may experience "vivid" dreams.... but i had the most terrifying, insanely real dreams ever. how does this happen and when will it end?
Title: how do nicotine patches make you have crazy dreams?
Post by: paul.fr on 19/08/2007 08:10:15
Are you wearing the patch at night / in bed? I have heard that they may cause "vivid"  [;)] [;)]dreams if that is the case.

nicotine increases neurotransmission in the brain, giving you more pleasure (or somthing like that)so maybe this is increased whilst you are asleep and you are more susceptible and / or suggestible to those dreams.

That's my guess....next
Title: how do nicotine patches make you have crazy dreams?
Post by: paul.fr on 21/08/2007 17:08:30
Kadie,

i dont think you are supposed to wear them at night, or for longer than 16 hours in a day.

here is some info i found:

Quote

How does it work?

Nicorette patches contain nicotine. They are a type of medicine known as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and are used to help smokers give up the habit.

Nicotine is the addictive substance present in tobacco. Smokers who try to give up often experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms and cravings for cigarettes, because they are dependent on the nicotine in tobacco. Withdrawal symptoms can include irritability, headaches, restlessness, insomnia and difficulty concentrating. These, combined with cigarette cravings, are why it is difficult for some people to give up smoking.

Nicotine replacement therapies work by giving you a small amount of nicotine, but without the dangerous effects of inhaling tobacco smoke. This helps relieve the withdrawal symptoms and cravings for a cigarette that you get when you stop smoking, and allows you to get on with breaking the psychological habit of smoking. If you are physically addicted to nicotine, using NRT has been shown to almost double your chances of successfully quitting smoking.

Nicorette patches are worn continuously for 16 hours. The nicotine in the patches is absorbed continuously from the patches, through the skin and into the bloodstream. This produces a lower amount of nicotine in the blood than smoking, but the continuous level is enough to help prevent the withdrawal symptoms and cravings that you get after you stop smoking.


more can be found here: http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100003543.html
Title: how do nicotine patches make you have crazy dreams?
Post by: paul.fr on 21/08/2007 17:10:15
Quote

One patch should be applied at the same time every day, usually in the morning. It should be removed after 16 hours, usually at bedtime.


can i make a suggestion?

try putting one on first thing tomorrow and taking it off before bed - 16 hours later. Try this for a week and see if the dreams stop,
Title: how do nicotine patches make you have crazy dreams?
Post by: kdlynn on 21/08/2007 17:38:48
but the patches that were recommended by my doctor say to wear them continuously for twenty four hours, changing them at the same time each day...
Title: how do nicotine patches make you have crazy dreams?
Post by: paul.fr on 21/08/2007 17:43:45
but the patches that were recommended by my doctor say to wear them continuously for twenty four hours, changing them at the same time each day...

As you know i am no doctor, just a fool with a keyboard. Is this what the literature with the patches said? if that is the case then i would see the doctor again and explain your problem to him.
Title: how do nicotine patches make you have crazy dreams?
Post by: kdlynn on 21/08/2007 17:48:36
i probably will... this is getting more expensive than smoking was...
Title: how do nicotine patches make you have crazy dreams?
Post by: cmackin14 on 15/03/2009 20:48:50
I recently tried to smoke cigarettes using the patch and went to sleep with it on me before...even though my sister warned me that she had some crazy dreams on it..anyways, I feel asleep and had some of the most disturbing dreams that felt soo real it was sick..I actually woke up in the middle of the night so nervous and couldn't go back to sleep the rest of the night. So anyone planning on wearing it sleeping I would not recommend it..some people may respond different though
Title: Re: how do nicotine patches make you have crazy dreams?
Post by: Travis1233 on 06/03/2014 07:29:11
For me , I have always been a very optimistic dreamer. I have used 21 mg patches for two weeks now ( 1 patch per 24 hour period), and although my dreams were very vivid and real, they were the furthest thing from nightmares. I remember my dreams for the first time in years, And they have given me insight into recent happenings I hadn't come to term with. I don't see any danger in wearing them (never had nightmares in my life), and I believe that, in the right mindset, they can be used as a hallucinogen with no hangover and deep personal revelations. NOT recommended for the weak of mind, but I'm surprised it isn't more popular among responsible recreational ""drug"" users like myself (better than magic mushrooms, and WAAY safer than LSD)